


Repairs

by greyone01



Series: Damerey Week 2018 [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: DameRey, F/M, JediPilot, Nightmares, Poe Dameron Hurts So Prettily, Poe Dameron Needs A Hug, damereyweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-01 23:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16293839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyone01/pseuds/greyone01
Summary: It's business as usual for the Resistance on their new base. Still sorely lacking in manpower, the remaining Resistance fighters push as far as they can to further the cause. Poe Dameron was not an exception, and his efforts do not go unnoticed by one of the newer members of the group.Day 4 of Damerey Week 2018





	Repairs

**Author's Note:**

> Damerey Week Day 4 prompt: post-TLJ imagined

Commander Poe Dameron absentmindedly followed BB-8 to his quarters. He was not only physically tired from the week-long mission he and Black Squadron had just completed; the debrief had left him emotionally drained as he recounted to the general the nightmare that his and his squadron had just gone through. His mind and body felt numb, and he was thankful that they got back on base in the dead of the night. Everyone save for the skeletal crew on duty had retreated to their quarters, and the hallways were quiet and empty as he and his astromech made their way to their quarters. 

There were probably about two dozen Resistance fighters currently calling this base home. They settled here upon the orders of General Organa, after drifting in the Millenium Falcon for a few standard days. The new Resistance headquarters used to be an old Imperial stronghold, and the General believed that this will be the last place that the First Order will expect them to be. Hells, this will be the last place anyone will expect them to be. They were back in the planet Scarif, and he knew from history that the events that happened here almost half a century ago was pivotal to the success of the Rebellion. He also knew that those events had cruelly very nearly destroyed the planet – reducing its once lush land into an endless wasteland with most of its infrastructure crumbling from exposure to the elements. Over the decades, the planet lay forgotten to the rest of the galaxy, silently healing from the fiery strike that almost decimated it. Unbeknownst to him and the rest of the Resistance, the highest-ranking Resistance officers had been inconspicuously monitoring the health of the planet, deeming it habitable only a few years ago – habitable only by a small group and only as one of the last resorts. Obviously, their situation fulfilled those conditions.

The rest of Black Squadron – Snap Wexley, Kare Kun, Jessika Pava and Suralinda Javos – had one by one rejoined them from various corners of the galaxy. Thanks to their efforts, their allies have been alerted of the current state of the Resistance, and slowly, much needed aid was reaching their group. They’ve managed to acquire some non-descript transports and a pair of X-wings, one of which became the new Black One and the other replacing Pava’s badly damaged fighter. As soon as the X-wings were deemed suitable for deployment, General Organa had started sending out Black Squadron to rescue missions – thwarting First Order attacks to communities that had no means to defend themselves. Although he considered himself a hardened veteran after having been in war for nearly half his life, it doesn’t make it any easier to witness the devastation left behind by the First Order. As he and his squadron deploy to mission after mission with a progressively alarming frequency, he is beginning to see the psychological and emotional tolls of such mission to his squadron – and to himself.

Even his droid seemed to have been noticing this. He used to head straight back to Black One after debriefs, to start doing repairs right away. For the last couple of missions though, BB-8 had taken to ushering him to his quarters after his debriefing with the general and making sure he at least naps before attempting to work on his ship. Poe tried to argue with BB-8 about this at first, but the droid will just zap him repeatedly to submission. Eventually (and a few nasty burns later), he just resigned to following his droid. It wasn’t lost on him, though, that his droid seemed to be in cahoots with at least one other person with this.

The first time he noticed that some of the damage on Black One had been mysteriously repaired, he thought he may have just been too tired to remember repairing it himself. With Rose, currently their only mechanic, still recuperating, each pilot had needed to carry out the repairs to their own ship. Of course, Rose was more than happy to give them advice when they come running to her for help, but the General forbade her from actually touching any of the ships until Dr Kalonia had given her medical clearance, which, as far as Poe knows, was still pending. The only other individuals he could think of who could possibly have done Black One’s repairs were Rey and the Wookie Chewbacca, and he knew Chewie probably didn’t like him well enough to do such thing for him.

That left Rey, and he knew Rey was probably the only other human BB-8 will listen to and actually follow. He kept quiet about it, pretending not to notice, but really he just did not know how to ask her about it. His friendship with Rey is a bit strange – he felt both comfortable and uncomfortable with her. He knew he liked spending time with her, but half the time when he was actually with her, his brain will just suddenly give up on him, and then everything he says or do just feels awkward to him. If she noticed, she’d been kind enough not to make a big deal out of it. So Poe just decided to leave it as it was, and besides, he had to admit that the repairs on Black One were maybe a tad better than what he could’ve done himself.

And so tonight, he took to following BB-8 back to their quarters, without any protests. He went straight to the ‘fresher, allowing the hot water to wash away all physical traces of the mission and wishing that the non-physical debris were just as easy to go. He stopped only when the water started to go cold. He knew his droid wouldn’t let him out of his quarters, so he put on a clean T-shirt and boxers, and fell almost immediately asleep as his head hit his pillow. It wasn’t long before he was back in the middle of the burning village, surrounded by cries of pain.

He woke up with a gasp, feeling disoriented for a few seconds before he remembered he was back on base, in his bunk. His heart was pounding, and he took a few deep breaths to steady himself. He sat up, turned on his bedside lamp, his head automatically turning to where BB-8 usually docks himself to recharge and was surprised not to find the astromech there. He let his head drop on his palms, elbows resting on his knees.

Harsh white light suddenly flooded his room as the door slid open. He blinked as he looked up, and blinked some more when he saw who walked in after his wayward droid. “Rey?”

“Are you all right?” Rey asked in a concerned tone as the door slid closed behind her, thankfully plunging the room back into semi-darkness. 

“I, uh…what are you doing here?” As usual, his brain went into short-circuit at the sight of her, and it didn’t help that he was still in that state between wakefulness and sleep.

“BB-8 said something was wrong,” Rey explained. “I’m sorry, I’ll go if you want me to,” she apologized quickly, moving back towards the door. BB-8 chirped in protest, the message not lost on both humans. 

Poe would’ve felt embarrassed if he had not been fighting to quell the anguish from his dream. “Sorry, I think I freaked him out again,” he said, scrubbing his face with his hands. “Had a bad dream.”

“Oh,” Rey said softly. She looked like she was debating whether to stay or go.

“I’m sorry Beebee woke you up and dragged you all the way here,” Poe said, despite feeling grateful that she was there. 

“I wasn’t sleeping anyway,” Rey said. She seemed to have decided to stay and tentatively sat beside him on the edge of his bunk. He shifted slightly as if to tell her it was fine. They sat in silence, him with his face still in his hands, and her regarding him carefully.

“So,” he said, finally looking up and meeting her eyes. He felt much calmer now, but a different kind of disquiet was starting to grip him. “I’m sorry BB-8 made you come here.” Apologizing seemed to be the only thing he was capable of doing at the moment. 

“I’m not,” Rey replied, still looking concerned. “You scared him, Poe. Poor Beebee ran into me full speed in the hangar.”

“Sometimes he worries about me too much,” Poe said wryly. “It was just a bad dream. Not unusual for me after missions like what we just had.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Poe shook his head. They fell silent again. Poe felt torn – he knew talking will help, but he wanted to spare her of the ugliness of he had witnessed. He felt selfish for feeling comforted by her presence and he hated to admit it but he was glad she came when BB-8 asked her. Still, he didn’t want to burden her with his troubles.

Rey was still looking at him with concern. “Maybe you should try going back to sleep, you must be tired.”

He shrugged. “I am, but I don’t know if I can. Go back to sleep, I mean.”

“I know,” Rey nodded. “I usually don’t go back to sleep at all when I get bad dreams.” She went on and started talking about mundane happenings on the base while he and Black Squadron were away, and he was grateful for the distraction. Soon, she got him laughing over what Threepio had done. He started feeling more relaxed, and he felt his eyelids getting heavy.

“You should go back to sleep now,” Rey said gently, after his third attempt to hold back a yawn. 

“I should,” Poe agreed. “Thanks Rey. For going with BB-8 and for working on Black One.”

Her blush was visible despite the dim lamp light. “I, umm, I didn’t think you knew.”

“It wasn’t hard to figure out once BB-8 started shooing me to my room after the debriefs,” Poe chuckled. “And I know that aside from me, you’re the only person he listens to.”

“I hope you didn’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Poe grinned. “Hate to admit it, but you do a better job than I do fixing Black One.”

“I like working on engines – fixing and modifying and all that stuff. One day I’ll tell you about this speeder I made from scratch,” Rey remarked proudly. “But you really should get some rest now.” She gave him a smile of approval as he grudgingly settled back onto his bunk. 

“It’s just that I saw that you let your squadron get right onto working on their ships while you do the debrief,” Rey started explaining. “And usually they’ll finish before you return from your meeting, so they get to rest way before you do. I know you must be just as exhausted as them, so I figured if I helped, you’ll get to rest sooner rather than later.”

Poe looked at her in amazement. He hadn’t really thought of it that way, he concluded she worked on Black One because she liked working on engines. That she did it also because she was concerned of how tired he was simply astounded him. He finally managed to say a meek “thank you.” Brain short-circuited once again.

“Beebee’s not the only one who worries about you, you know,” Rey said gently. “You always give more than what’s asked of you for the Resistance, you often forget to look after yourself. I just wanted to help make sure you don’t forget.”

“Thank you,” he said again, this time managing to say it with the sincerity he felt. “Thanks, Rey.”

“So, get some sleep now, flyboy,” Rey smiled, tucking him in under covers. “I’ll be working on your ship, and BB-8 here can get me anytime if you have any more of those bad dreams.” She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before standing up and heading to the door. He was still staring after her when she glanced back as she stepped out of his room. With a smile, she gave a small wave and walked away.

When Poe finally snapped out of his stupefaction, he found himself smiling as he settled down and allowed sleep to overcome him. He had no more bad dreams that night. Seems like it wasn't just his fighter she was repairing, after all.


End file.
